But strangely, the cars that were creating some of the biggest buzz throughout the pits and grandstands Friday and Saturday weren’t the suped-upped, colorful hot rods that were tearing down Martin Dragway in the ADRL’s Pro Stock, Pro Nitrous or any of the other professional classes offered in the series.

The ADRL has introduced a brand new division this season – the SuperCar Showdown. The class offers some of the world’s quickest production cars with minimal modifications, and this weekend’s field included the racing debut of the 2013 Mustang Cobra Jet.

There have only been 50 of them built, and Drew Skillman of Indianapolis pulled one of them off the showroom floor of his family-owned Ray Skillman Performance Ford headquarters, then hauled it up for this weekend’s races.

“It had never been down the track before,” said Skillman, 24. “The furthest it has been was from one side of the building to the other. We were just glad to be able to race it here first since it was built right here in Michigan.”

Saturday’s program was twice delayed by rain. Visit www.adrl.us for updates throughout Saturday evening and early Sunday morning for results.

Skillman did not drive the 2013 model. He elected to stick with his team’s 2012 Cobra Jet since he already drove it to victory earlier this season at the Gateway Drags.

Skillman, who spent the past three years competing in the NHRA’s Stock Eliminator class, turned the driving duties over to National Hot Rod Association Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Wes Wells, since the NHRA is off this weekend. Wells, 51, raced down the track for the first time in Friday’s qualifying session and recorded a pass of 115.96 mph in 6.023 seconds. Wells lost in Saturday’s semifinals to Skillman, although he did crack 116 mph.

“I have driven the (2010) car, and the ’13 car has electric power steering, power assist for the steering, and Ford has done a lot of work lightening different parts of the car,” said Wells, of Greenwood, Ind. “The car is the most competitive car right out of the box compared to all the other cars.

“It’s a blast. It’s like cruising down the road. It really handles nicely. Ford did a great job with it. This thing leads pretty hard, but after you travel 20 or 30 feet, you are kind of like on a Sunday drive, compared to the motorcycle anyway.”

What makes the class challenging is that drivers can make only minimal modifications to the cars. But that hasn’t slowed Bo Butner of Louisville, Ken., who has already won three races this season in his 2012 Cobra Jet, including the division’s debut in Houston in April.

“A good friend of mine had this car, and he wasn’t real comfortable in it,” said Butner, who has been racing for over two decades. “I have raced everything in the world, so I took it and went with it. It’s a neat deal. It’s amazing what you can do with these cars performance-wise.”